The laureates share the 8 million kronor ($930,000) prize for the "design and synthesis" of molecules with controllable movements, which can perform a task when energy is added, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

The academy said molecular machines "will most likely be used in the development of things such as new materials, sensors and energy storage systems."

The chemistry prize was the last of this year's science awards. The medicine prize went to a Japanese biologist who discovered the process by which a cell breaks down and recycles content. The physics prize was shared by three British-born scientists for theoretical discoveries that shed light on strange states of matter.